My friend Annie Unrein of byAnnie.com started the #SewPINK Initiative, an online event focused on breast cancer awareness. She will be donating a percentage of her profits in October 2019 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. She asked a group of sewing bloggers to participate in a blog tour, and of course I am happy to oblige!

I was curious to see what our Awareness Ribbon block would look like pieced into the front of Annie's Clam Up zippered pouch sewing pattern [Amazon]. I customized the 6“ block, extending the borders so that you can use it for the XL Clam Up pattern piece. It turned out great! Here's the modified foundation paper piecing pattern for you:

Awareness Ribbon - Clam Up XL

Just follow the block directions and then follow Annie’s pattern to make a Clam Up in the XL size.

About the Materials

Monochrome 9 FQ bundle

I chose a few pinks from our Magenta 9 fat quarter bundle. I'm biased but I love the value range in our monochrome bundles. Also, little-known-fact: the colors in our Monochrome 9 bundles match the values for each of the 12 colors on the back of the CMY Color Wheel. Tuck that away for future reference, quilters!

Soft and Stable

I’ve made bags with Soft and Stable and bags without Soft and Stable. And any time I use another product, I always regret it. Nothing supports like Soft and Stable [Amazon]. It simply gives the best structure. Isn’t it cool that Annie invented this product?

Zippers by the Yard

I was nervous about assembling the Zippers by the Yard [Amazon]. Honestly, I was nervous about sewing the zippers, too. That’s where Annie’s videos are SO HELPFUL. When you purchase the Clam Up pattern, you get access to a digital library section on byannie.com. And sure enough, I saw several Add-On videos for the Clam Up and watched them all. I probably didn’t need to watch all of them, but seeing Annie make the project was so confidence-boosting. The “Prepare Zippers and Attach to Bag” video was a must-watch for me.

Mods/Notes-to-Self

Here’s what I learned after sewing a few of these pouches:

• Use 2.5“ binding strips (instead of 2.25”). That extra bit of wiggle room makes it an easier sew.
• Choose a thread color that matches the zipper. If the stitches are less than stellar, at least they won’t pop out on the inside of the zipper.
• Use a walking foot for the entire project. Having that extra feed power really helps near the end of the project, especially for the zipper and bindings.
• Choose an interior fabric that’s not very dark. Otherwise, it’s hard to see what’s inside the pouch. If worried that a lighter color fabric will get dirty, just throw the pouch in the wash.

I can't wait to make more of these zip pouches! And thanks, Annie, for all you do!

The #SewPink Initiative was created by ByAnnie.com LLC to raise awareness for breast cancer during October’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. They have pledged to raise funds to donate to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation through sales and promote action through giveaways.
For more information please visit their official #SewPINK information page:https://www.byannie.com/2019-SewPINK

To donate directly visit:https://give.bcrf.org/give/31404/#!/donation/checkout

To see the calendar of events visit:https://www.byannie.com/2019-SewPINK#calendar

ByAnnie will be donating 30% of profits on all SewPINK items sold on their web store. You can search for SewPINK items on their website or see the list of items here:https://www.byannie.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=sewpink